Ahead of the All-Ireland football semi-finals, we get verdicts on the Mayo-Kerry replay and Dublin versus Tyrone from some interested observers who have all played in the Championship this season.
Paul Kerrigan - Cork footballer
Will Mayo play Aidan O'Shea at full-back again?
I think he will start there. From looking back at the game, I think he will learn and improve in the role. However, I think he will eventually have to come forward if Mayo are trailing.
Will Kerry play a sweeper?
I don't think they will play an out-and-out sweeper. I think their wing-forwards and midfielders will up their work-rate defensively and look to free up a Kerry defender, someone like Killian Young or Murphy, to sit in front of the full-back line. Similar to the efficient way Aidan O Mahony did it a few years back.
Will Diarmuid Connolly feature for Dublin?
I wouldn't be surprised if he started, but I think him coming on after 40-45 minutes would give Dublin and their supporters a huge boost. Considering his circumstances, any score he gets will give his team a massive lift.
Can Tyrone's full-forward line score enough to worry Dublin?
I think it will have to be a huge team effort for Tyrone to beat Dublin. Inside, Sean Cavanagh and Mark Bradley will need to get 5/6 points between them. But the likes of Peter Harte, Mattie Donnelly and Niall Sludden are very capable of contributing on the scoreboard too. Ronan O'Neill has had a major impact from the bench and Tyrone will need him to make his mark also.
Who will contest the All-Ireland final?
I think the extra game will do Kerry the world of good and they will win. I have a feeling Tyrone may cause an upset. They'll have to play the game of their lives but they have troubled Dublin in Croke Park in the league over the last few seasons. So I'll go for a Kerry-Tyrone final.
Ross Munnelly - Laois footballer
Will Mayo play Aidan O'Shea at full-back again?
I think Mayo will have been pleased with O'Se at full-back given Kerry changed their style of attack, resulting in only three scores from play between Donaghy, O'Donoghue and Geaney. This is a very tough call but I expect Mayo to deploy the same tactic. Kerry will also have had a chance to review the match-up and will have been pleased with the amount of times Donaghy won possession. The one occasion Aidan O Shea was not marking Donaghy for a high ball, it led to (Johnny) Buckley's goal.
Will Kerry play a sweeper?
I don't think Kerry will utilise a specific sweeper. Mayo played with five attacking forwards in the drawn game, the sixth position was Lee Keegan battling with Paul Murphy. I think the Kerry midfielders will be more defensive-minded this week with a view to filling any empty space created by the Mayo forward movement off the half-forward line.
Will Diarmuid Connolly feature for Dublin?
I expect Connolly to feature on Sunday and I am sure Tyrone do too. Obviously he has missed out on significant game-time this summer but this is knock-out football and he will lift the team and the crowd majorly when he gets his first touch. Connolly to play a part but Tyrone to have a plan of their own.
Can Tyrone's full-forward line score enough to worry Dublin?
The Tyrone full-forward line will not play in a traditional structure. Mark Bradley is their key outlet with his diagonal runs in front of the goal and mostly plays in that position on his own. He likes to collect possession inside the 21-yard-line leaving him with a chance to shoot or offload to team mates off the shoulder. I see more of Tyrone's scores generated through counter-attacks with Tiernan McCann, Pete Harte, Padraig Hampsey and Mattie Donnelly landing points on the run from distance.
Who will contest the All-Ireland final?
Dublin v Mayo is my prediction. There is no doubt Tyrone have improved significantly as a team since last years loss to Mayo. They may require another year to fine tune their big-game performance. Mayo are refusing to give in this year and are showing an enhanced level of resilience. They might just sneak a win on Saturday due to the momentum of heading into their ninth championship game.
Kevin McKernan - Down footballer
Will Mayo play Aidan O'Shea at full-back again?
I think they will. For a man who went in for the very first time to do that, and probably only had a bit of experience in training with the likes of his brother for a while, he did well. I think he will have noticed a lot more about Kieran’s movement from assessing how he played himself on the day. By watching back the game and realising that he didn’t need to go to certain places that he went to on the day. In terms of Kieran’s influence, a lot of that came from runners from deep as well. I think he will be there but we may see a period of ten or 12 minutes where they might put someone else back on him to let Aidan go back out. Maybe a rotation there, Seamie O'Shea could go back in on him. I think Aidan will start on him but at some stage could come out.
Will Kerry play a sweeper?
Not an out-and-out sweeper but from the analysis of the last game they had a whole lot of bodies in that middle sector so you may see a drift of one player back. I think you could see David Moran release one of the half-backs to go back or something like that. I don’t think it will be an out-and-out sweeper but I think as Mayo attack there will be high pressure and someone will drift back towards the D area to help.
Will Diarmuid Connolly feature for Dublin?
I think he will start but he will probably not be named to start. I’m sure for the last three or four week he’s bound to have been at training, and even before the quarter-finals playing in the 15 on 15 matches on the subs team, but even still I'd say he will definitely start. I don't think you can keep a man like that out, especially against Tyrone. He can kick points from a distance and is too big of an addition to not have in your team.
Can Tyrone's full-forward line score enough to worry Dublin?
I think it’s more of a Tyrone team because they only really leave Mark Bradley up and you’ll have he likes of Sean Cavanagh, Kieran McGeary, Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte rotating around the half-forward line as they attack. So I think you'll have more of a Tyrone attacking team coming from deep. Mark Bradley will get through because of the Tyrone runners and the Dublin defence will be occupied by those runners. But I don’t think it will be a high-scoring game, I don't think Dublin will be caught out the way Tyrone attack. They will have been preparing for it for probably for a month because they were preparing for Monaghan which was a similar enough set-up but with some small tweaks for Tyrone.
Who will contest the All-Ireland final?
I think it will be Mayo and I think Dublin and Tyrone will draw and then Dublin will come out the other side. So I think it will be a Mayo-Dublin final.
Conor Sweeney- Tipperary footballer
Will Mayo play Aidan O'Shea at full-back again?
I think they will. It worked well for them the first day so I can't see why they wouldn't. Donaghy needs to be marked by a man as physical as himself and Aidan is that man. Hopefully it won't take from Aidan's game too much.
Will Kerry play a sweeper?
No, I don't think so. It's not in their nature. I know Andy Moran did what he wanted last week but Eamonn Fitzmaurice will trust his full-back line and hope they get much tighter this Saturday.
Will Diarmuid Connolly feature for Dublin?
Definitely. If he isn't named to start then he will definitely be introduced. He is too good to be on the bench. Really looking forward to seeing him play.
Can Tyrone's full-forward line score enough to worry Dublin?
No their full-forward line won't, but they rely on scores from out the field. That's just the way they play. Maybe they don't trust their full-forward line, but the majority of their scores will come from the half-forwards and attacking half-backs.
Who will contest the All-Ireland final?
Dublin and Mayo. I think Tyrone will give Dublin enough for a while but Dublin are too strong. I also think Mayo can take Kerry this time, I respect their hunger to get back here every year and I think this is their time.
